Hooray! It's the lil' tiny wedding video. We have a longer one but I'll spare you because it's forty minutes and you probably have stuff to do. This one however is nice and short, like the Cliffs Notes version of my favorite day ever.

I'd love to relive that weekend once every other month for the rest of my life. And until I figure out the logistics and budgeting to make that plan work, I have this beauty.

1. All of the podcasts (StartUp, Mystery Show and Reply All) from Gimlet Media because I happen to find myself in a real podcast phase of my life and these are some of my recent faves.2. I'm trying not to buy new books so I checked this book out from the library based on the fact that I loved another one of Meg Wolitzer's books (The Interestings) and this one did not disappoint. The same crafted storytelling and complex, relatable characters. It was a perfect sitting-by-the-pool-and/or-beach-in-Hawaii read.3. These sandals because I recently got a pair and I haven't stopped wearing them. Never mind the fact that it makes me shoe twinsies with pretty much every kid under eight in Brooklyn.4. This movie because ... I mean. Come on. 5. This necklace because it's geo faceted! And that's fun to say. Also, on sale.

So I went on a honeymoon. To Hawaii. For 12 dang days and it was just as fantastic as you would imagine. We didn't take our honeymoon immediately, we left about a month after the wedding because of other travel and work and such. I actually really liked spreading it out this way. When the wedding ends, it's such a crash and this kick ass trip gave us something to look forward to.

We split our adventure between The Big Island and Kauai. And we moved locations once on each island. So we ended up staying in all sorts of accommodations; a Holiday Inn, a quaint B&B, a rustic room with an outdoor shower rented through airbnb and a stupidly expensive, luxury resort. Matt and I like to see it all.

The Big Island was our first stop and it is not to be missed if only for the astounding variety of terrains and environments. You can't believe all of it exists on a island about the size of Connecticut. We saw regular beaches and a black sand beach. We saw an active volcano with molten lava. We saw reminders of past volcano eruptions everywhere in the form of all kinds of volcanic rock. We saw mountains and rainforest and farm land, too. We snorkeled. We took a helicopter ride over the volcano. We were supposed to visit the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is the highest point in Hawaii but it was cancelled due to weather. We visited the southernmost point of all fifty states.

On Kauai we saw way more beaches, as it's kind of known for it's ridiculously beautiful beaches and laid-back vibe. This is most true on the North Shore where we stayed. We spent a few days at an airbnb that was right on the beach so we took swims in the ocean each morning and drank beers listening to the waves each night. We saw the Waimea Canyon which is called the Grand Canyon of The Pacific for a reason. We took a boat tour of the Napali Coast and saw the high cliffs along the shoreline which are inaccessible by car. We also saw some dolphins and rainbows and waterfalls. It was as picturesque as it sounds.

Most of our trips center around food and drink and Hawaii was no different. We ate chicken and pork lau lau, kalua pork, the freshest tuna poke in the word, farm-to-table Hawaiian brunch, shaved ice with ice cream inside, malasadas (Hawaiian doughnuts), coconut and macadamia nut pancakes covered in the tastiest coconut syrup and pretzels from a tiny heavy metal themed pretzel shack called Metal Mike's. We drank all the Hawaiian beer we could get our hands on and when I took a break from beer I enjoyed mai tais and lava flows (which FYI is a pina colada and strawberry daiquiri mixing and mingling in one delicious cockatil). Matt never takes a break from beer.

For the last three days we checked into The St Regis and went into full relaxation mode. Eating our faces off at the immense breakfast buffet, sitting by the pool and reading in the sun, ordering expensive cocktails, watching the sunset from the lobby bar, lounging in the hotel robes, etc. you get the idea. I loved saving the most luxurious part for last. It was the perfect final note to what had already been so much fun.

There's a reason everyone does there honeymoon in Hawaii, y'all. If you ever get the chance to go, do it. Honeymoon or not it's a beautiful and enchanting place to spend some time. Preferably twelve days because you know that thing at the end of every vacation when you're so depressed it's ending there's a pit in your stomach and you'd rather poke your eyes out then go home/back to the real world? Yeah, that didn't happen. Of course we were a little sad to see our adventure end and we would have gladly continued gallivanting around the rest of the Hawaiian islands for days but it also felt good to come home.

P.s. Oh and funny story. We forgot the camera. What kind of idiots do that?! We briefly thought about trying to make a go of it with our iPhones but I couldn't stomach that so we went to Target on our first morning and bought a brand new camera. Matt also bought a bathing suit and I got a cute maxi dress. Jeez, even Target in Hawaii kills it. Anyways, here's some of the magical Hawaiian scenery. Pictures don't do it justice but I'm not going to let that stop me from trying.

Kilauea / Punaluu Beach a.k.a. Black Sand Beach

Akaka Falls State Park / Ka Lea (a.k.a. South Point, the southernmost point of the 50 United States)